Now being treated for stage-4 cancer, Griggs, 69, maintains an extremely positive attitude, yet mentions more than once that he, too, has enjoyed a wonderful life.

Griggs, respected internationally as a music historian, will be inducted at 6:30 p.m. today into the West Texas Walk of Fame. His name will be placed on a plaque near a statue of Buddy Holly, the man whose life Griggs spent years researching.

"I can claim good friends in 34 different countries," he said. "My life has been wonderful."

He said physicians give him "nine months to a year - or who knows, maybe longer (to live)."

Cachet envelopes commemorating today's induction also will be sold; proceeds benefit the South Plains Stamp Club.

It was only a year after Holly's statue was unveiled that Griggs moved from Connecticut to Lubbock. Griggs would later say, "Buddy was gone by then. But everyone else was still here. So I got here as quick as I could."

He first visited Lubbock in 1968 on vacation, then moved here permanently in 1981.

Not being from Lubbock originally helped him maintain an objectivity, he said, when reporting about Holly and other West Texas musicians.

For that matter, Griggs also pointed out that he never placed Holly on a pedestal of any sort.

He began reporting on Holly, he said, because, "I didn't see anyone else doing it."

When he founded the international Buddy Holly Memorial Society in 1975, operating under an agreement with the Holly estate, he lost track of the number of people who told him, "I thought I was the only fan left."

Within 15 years, BHMS membership totaled more than 5,500 in 50 states and 34 countries.

His memorial society gave way to publishing Reminiscing magazine. Griggs later focused on a monthly magazine called Rockin' 50s, which he published through 2004 and also became the name of his business.

A career highlight was his publication of a five-booklet set, "Buddy Holly Day-By-Day," in which Griggs documented where Holly was, and what he was doing, on all but a dozen dates during the artist's entire career.

Seven years of research were required for the 1998 project.

Griggs has lured a significant number of international visitors to Lubbock. He also was intent on exposing Lubbock's younger generation to its most famous native son, and gave multiple speeches at Lubbock schools at the request of city officials.

Griggs mentioned this week that he actually became a fan of the Crickets before Holly. ("That'll Be the Day," he said, initially was credited to the Crickets.)

He first became a fan when he heard the Crickets make "a smooth tempo change, never missing a beat," during that particular song, something he'd never heard young rock musicians even attempt.

Griggs saw the Crickets (and Holly) perform live twice in the 1950s, the first time with member Niki Sullivan and the second after he had left the band. More than two decades later, in 1978, it was Griggs who reunited all of the Crickets on stage for the first time since 1957.

He has been interviewed by every major news and music network in the United States and England.

He received three gold records from MCA Records for help in maintaining the authenticity of Holly recordings and at times writing liner notes. For example, Griggs was hired by the Buddy Holly estate in 2000 as a consultant to visit MCA Records in Los Angeles, listen to all of its Holly tapes and explain when, and where, each was recorded, and also what artists are performing on each version of every song.

In 1994, Griggs published a reference book "A Who's Who of West Texas Rock 'n' Roll Music," which included details about almost 100 West Texas solo artists and groups from the 1950s and early 1960s.

Randy Steele, who campaigned for eight years for Griggs to be inducted into the Walk of Fame, will introduce him today.

Steele said, "Bill covered his music subjects like a 'fan' would cover them, and he asked the questions to find answers that a 'fan' would want to know. As a result, we learned intimate details about the events that shaped West Texas music, and we learned the stories of the people who made that music."

John Pickering of the Picks, the group that recorded background harmonies for Holly and the Crickets, stated, "When (Griggs) found the Picks in 1981, we were scattered and had given up on anybody ever knowing that we sang with Buddy Holly. We figured that nobody cared. ... He brought all three of the Picks together again in 1982 for the 25th anniversary of our recording sessions with Buddy Holly."

And Ryan Vandergriff, author of a soon-to-be-published book about Holly's final tour, said, "Quite simply, Bill Griggs has acted as a major promoter for the city of Lubbock for would-be travelers who ever had even the smallest notion of visiting (Lubbock).

"He has done such a wonderful job of promoting hometown-boy-made-good Buddy Holly that Lubbock has become one of the more recognizable cities in America."

To comment on this story:

william.kerns@lubbockonline.com • 766-8712

shelly.gonzales@lubbockonline.com • 766-8747

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